CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
People have three basic needs in their live, such as cloth, food, and house. But it will more complete if there is love every day. Without love, people cannot live better, because they cannot share their feeling to the others. Love makes people happy, sad, angry, laugh, and even it can make people cry. In Islam, love has comprehensive view, that is love of Allah, love of Prophet Muhammad, and the last is human love. Musbikin (2002: 30) says that love is sacred. It is given by Allah and priceless. Every person deserves to get love even though he or she has to fight for it.
The literature and psychology have close relationship. The
psychology discovers the human’s behavior that is influenced by their
experience. From the experience of human’s life, it can give inspiration for author to produce a literary work. The novel as part literary work
replicates some realities that happen in the human’s life. It is induce the
behavior of the character in the novel. The knowledge of the psychology helps the author to create characters in plays and novels more real as well as situation and plot (Wellek and Warren, 1956: 88-91).
The Notebook is a romantic novel which is made in 1996 by Nicholas Sparks. It is based on true story and it was Nicholas Sparks’
first published. The novel consists of 8 chapters inside it. This novel told on two levels, the first is the story a man, Noah reads from the notebook to a woman, Allie. The notebook tells how Noah and Allie met, fell in love, lost each other, and then found each other again. The second is the present day when Noah and Allie have grown old and live together. The end of their love is tragically altered by Allie’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis, but even that has no power over their love. (http://www.nicholassparks.com/stories/the-notebook/).
Lucky One (2008), The Last Song (2009), Safe Haven (2010) and The Best of Me (2011), as well as the 2004 non-fiction memoir Three Weeks With My Brother, co-written with his brother Micah. His seventeenth novel, The Longest Ride, was published on September 17, 2013. Eight of his novels have been made into film (http://nicholassparks.com/about/).
The novel begins with Noah Calhoun, an old man, reading to a woman in a nursing home. He tells her the following story: Noah, 31, returns from World War II to his town of New Bern, North Carolina. He completes restoring a plantation house, after his father's death. Meanwhile Allie, 29, sees the house in the newspaper and opts to pay him a visit. They are meeting, again, after a 14-year separation, which followed their summer romance when her family was visiting the town. They were separated by social class, as she was the daughter of a wealthy family, and he worked as a laborer in a lumberyard. They have dinner together and talk about their lives and the past. Noah had written letters to her for one year after their breakup, but she realizes that her mother hid the letters so that Allie concludes that Noah had forgotten about her. At the end of the night, Noah invites Allie to come back the next day and she decides to see him again. During this time, her fiancé, Lon, tries to reach her at the hotel. When Allie does not respond to his calls, he begins to worry.
storm and end up soaked. When they back to his house, they talk again about how important they were to each other, and how their feelings have not changed. Noah and Allie share a kiss and make love. Allie's mother comes the next morning and gives Allie the letters from Noah. When her mother leaves, Allie is torn and has a decision to make. She knows she loves Noah, but she does not want to hurt Lon. Noah begs her to stay with him, but she decides to leave.
The man stops reading the story at this point, and tells the reader that he is reading to his wife, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease and does not be familiar with him. He clarifies that he is also ill, battling a third cancer, and suffering heart disease, kidney failure, and severe arthritis in his hands. He resumes reading the story and describing their life together: her career as a noted painter, their children, growing old together, and finally the diagnosis of Alzheimer's. He had changed the names in the story to protect her, but he is Noah and she is Allie. They walk together and Allie, although she does not recognize him, says she might feel something for him.
despite the Alzheimer's, and she says that she had missed Noah. (http://thenotebookoflove.weebly.com)
The Notebook is a fascinating novel. There are three reasons why the writer is interested to study this novel. First, this novel tells about the story of first love, which turns into true love. The novel conveys about how Noah the major character can maintain of his first love, though many obstacles face him, from the first time Noah and Allie met, Allie’s mom did not agree with their relationship, then Allie engaged to Lon, and the last Allie was suffering from Alzheimer’s. Noah never turned away from Allie and kept waiting for her until she was back to him again. Finally, they lived together even though Allie did not know who Noah was but one day the miracle came, Allie remembered Noah. This statement can be found at page 213:
“I kissed her lips, her cheeks, and listen as she takes a breath. She
murmurs softly, “Oh, Noah . . . I’ve missed you.” Another miracle-the greatest of all!—and there’s no way I can stop the tears as we begin to
slip toward heaven itself.” (The Notebook, 1996: 213).
Second, the setting of place in The Notebook novel takes place in a small southern town. That is New Bern, North Carolina. The writer concerns with that town because small town feed into a nostalgia that people have for the way things used to be. Simpler, less rushed, more community oriented things like that.
listening quietly as he played the music of his childhood. (The Notebook, 1996: 15).
The last is The Notebook has some crucial message inside its story. Noah is a hard worker. That is why his former boss, Morris Goldman gave some inheritance for him. It can be obtained at page 29:
“He remembered the war ending in Europe, then a few months later in Japan. Just before he was discharged, he received a letter from a lawyer in New Jersey representing Morris Goldman. Upon meeting the lawyer, he found out that Goldman had died a year earlier and his estate liquidated. The business had been sold, and Noah was given a check for almost seventy thousand dollars, For some reason he was
oddly unexcited about it” (The Notebook, 1996: 29).
Another important message is to remove the selfishness. Earlier,
Allie’s mom, Anne didn’t allow her to have relation with Noah because
of societal influences. However, Anne is conscious that Allie is her daughter and she loves Noah more. Finally, Anne gives Allie freedom to choose between Noah or Lon. Anne said:
“I know we’ve had our differences, Allie, andthat we haven’t seen eye to eye on everything. I’m not perfect, but I did the best I could with raising you. I’m your mother and I always will be. That means I’ll always love you ” (The Notebook, 1996: 135).
Based on the previous reasons, the researcher will observe The Notebook novel by using individual psychological approach theory. So, the writer constructs the paper entitled: DEVOTION IN NICHOLAS SPARKS’ THE NOTEBOOK (1996): AN INDIVIDUAL
B. Literature Review
The Notebook is a fascinating object to be observed. As long as the researcher knows, there are two studies that have relation to the novel. The first study is conducted by Evvyvania Shinta Natalina B., entitled An Analysis Of the Main Characters in Nicholas Sparks Novel The Notebook by Psychological Approach in Gunadarma University as professional program, 2006. By using psychological approach, she tries to figure out the character and characterizations of Noah Calhoun and Allie Nelson. The conclusion of her study is the main characters in The Notebook that has significant parts in this novel are systematic and well organized.
Secondly, the research paper which is conducted by Andina Dwi Kanti, (2011) in Diponegoro University (UNDIP). The research paper
entitled “Book Review of The Notebook written by Nicholas Sparks” is
aimed to find out the weakness and the excess of the novel. The problem discussed in the novel is about the struggle of love from two main characters. In her analysis, it can be concluded that two main characters strive to get their love back even though they have to face a lot of obstacles. But in the end of their effort, they can live together ever after.
In this study, the researcher focuses on analyzing Noah’s devotion
C. Problem Statement
Based on the title and the background of the study, the researcher formulates the problem statement of the study is “How is the Noah’s
devotion reflected in Nicholas Sparks’ The Notebook Novel?”
D. Limitation of the Study
To carry out the study, the researcher needs to limit the study. The researcher concentrates her study on Noah as the major character in The Notebook novel. The study will be analyzed by using an individual psychological approach.
E. Objective of the Study
Dealing with the problem statement above, the objectives of the study are follows:
1. To analyze The Notebook novel based on its structural elements. 2. To analyze The Notebook novel by using an individual psychological
approach.
F. Benefits of the Study
The benefits of the study are follows: 1. Theoretical Benefit
This study is supposed to give a new contribution and
Notebook novel. This study is also expected to develop the larger body of knowledge, particularly structural elements and individual psychological analysis on The Notebook novel.
2. Practical Benefit
This study helps the researcher to enrich her knowledge dealing with structural elements and individual psychological analysis. This study also gives deeper understanding in literary fields as the reference to another researcher in analyzing The Notebook novel using different perspective.
G. Research Method 1. Type of the Study
In this research the writer uses descriptive qualitative method. 2. Object of the Study
The object of the study is Nicholas Sparks’ The Notebook novel.
3. Type of the Data and the Data Source a. Primary Data Source
The primary data source is the main data obtained from all the words, phrases and sentences in the novel itself, Nicholas
b. Secondary Data Source
Secondary data is the supporting data taken from literary books, essays, articles, and journal and also taken from the internet or the sources related to the novel.
4. Technique of the Data Collection
The methods of the collecting data in this research are follows: a. Reading the novel repeatedly and understanding the content b. Reading some other resources related to the novel
c. Giving marks to particular parts in the novel, which are considered important for the analysis
d. Taking notes for essential parts both in primary and secondary data sources
e. Classifying the data into categories and developing them into a good unity.
5. Technique of the Data Analysis
H. Research Paper Organization
